Did an authentic video show members of the Danish Parliament laughing heartily at a recording of March 2025 remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump, outlining his intent to "get" Greenland, "one way or the other"? No, that's not true: The underlying video was recorded in 2019, and Trump's 2025 remarks were digitally superimposed. Rather, the members of parliament cracked up during comments about circus elephants.
The claim that the video was recorded alongside the audio was made in a March 27, 2025 video on TikTok (archived here). A caption embedded in the video read:
You can't make this sh*t up!
This is how Denmark reacted when Trump said he wanted to buy Greenland.
The video showed Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen having a fit of giggles while making remarks in the Danish parliament, or Folketing. As her laughter spreads among her parliamentary colleagues, a separate audio track plays segments of Trump's March 4, 2025, State of the Union address, in which he set out his administration's intention to acquire Greenland for the United States:
I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland. We strongly support your right to determine your own future, and if you choose, we welcome you into the United States of America. We need Greenland for national security and even international security, and we're working with everybody involved to try and get it. But we need it really for international world security. And I think we're going to get it. One way or the other, we're going to get it.
This is what the post looked like at the time of writing:
@uptoknewsnow When Trump doubles down on buying Greenland in 2025, Denmark's reaction is priceless. In 2019, Trump floated the idea of buying Greenland, and Denmark laughed it off. Fast forward to 2025, and he's at it again--this time, sending high-profile delegations and ramping up pressure. Denmark's response? A firm and resounding rejection, with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen calling the U.S. actions "unacceptable pressure." Greenland's leaders are equally unimpressed, uniting against what they see as foreign interference. History repeats itself, but some offers are still off the table. #fyp ♬ Originalton - RealDjMimo
The video of the Danish politicians was authentic, as was the sound of their laughter and remarks in Danish. But the audio of Trump's voice was added digitally, several years afterwards.
The video was originally recorded on October 3, 2019, and the actual cause of the laughter was a statement given by Frederiksen on the subject of circus elephants, as reported by Euronews at the time:
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